On March 29, Republicans in the Senate calling the bill a political stunt, blocked legislation to strip billions of dollars in tax breaks for the biggest U.S. oil companies. A last minute entreaty by President Obama wasn’t enough to convince senators to strip the oil and gas industry of tax incentives. The “Repeal Big Oil Tax Subsidies” bill failed to advance by a vote of 51-47. It needed 60 votes to overcome a procedural hurdle.

Senate Democrats, mostly from oil-rich states, were not supportive of the legislation. They included Sen. Mark Begich of Alaska, Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, and Jim Webb of Virginia. Voting with the Democrats was Republican Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine.

The bill, sponsored by Robert Menendez, a Democrat, would have cut billions of dollars in tax breaks for the "big five" oil companies: Exxon Mobil Corp, BP Plc, ConocoPhillips, Chevron Corp and Royal Dutch Shell Plc.

Same old, same old: Republicans representing their benefactors such as big oil, the mega-wealthy and corporations (“Supreme Court Person”) and the Democrats, the American people (“Real Person”). What boggles the mind is how any middle-class American could be so hoodwinked as to vote against their best interests. Perhaps they feel that voting so somehow makes them a member of the one percent country club. They dream on while they're stepped on.